Re-furb

• Murano is celebrating its 15th birthday with a facelift (and new chef)

  

  How best to celebrate your 15th birthday? Well, if you're Angela Hartnett's Michelin-starred restaurant Murano then you give yourself a bit of time off for a makeover.

  Hartnett's Mayfair restaurant will close for three weeks over August and September before returning with a new look and a new head chef. George Ormond has just taken over the kitchen here from Emily Brightman, having worked alongside her for the

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• Islington restaurant Bellanger gets a major makeover

  

  Updated 1/6/23 with new images

  For the past month, Bellanger has been closed for what turns out to be a major overhaul. If you know the restaurant either from its Bellanger days or, before that, Browns you'll be aware that the space has always had the bar running down the right-hand side of the room on a different level.

  As it gets ready to reopen, we've been hearing more details

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• Gordon Ramsay's The Savoy Grill reopens with new wine room and bar

  

  After a two month closure, Gordon Ramsay's The Savoy Grill has just thrown open its doors again to show off a brand new look. The main restaurant has been given what they're describing as a Gatsby makeover with blush silk-lined walls and a new colour scheme making the whole space look very elegant indeed.

  It's not just about the wallpaper though - the restaurant now has a new look scalloped pewter bar and

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• Quo Vadis is getting a big refurb and doubling its capacity

  

  Some years ago, when Barrafina moved to Dean Street, it came at the cost of dramatically reducing the space available for Jeremy Lee's Quo Vadis. Now we're happy to report that Quo Vadis itself is doing something of a land grab and will soon have double the space inside. 

  Previously only able to take 20 diners, capacity will be expanding to a much more convivial 40. The move comes

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• The Chelsea Pig will be furniture designer Timothy Oulton's first pub

  

  Updated 14/10/21 with opening date

  He has stores worldwide from Miami to Moscow, but now interior designer Timothy Oulton has returned back to the UK to open his first pub.

  The Chelsea Pig is a bit of an SW3 landmark, having been around since the 1890s. Now for the 2020s it's getting a new lease of life. Obviously, design is to the fore with a moonstone bar, vintage furniture from Timothy's own collection and

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• The Beaumont (and Colony Grill) is coming back with a new look

   

  11/8/21 - Updated with photos

  It's been closed ever since the first lockdown, but now The Beaumont hotel in Mayfair is finally reopening - and there are a fair few changes as it re-emerges. 

  The hotel, once run by Corbin & King, is just a few steps from Oxford Street. Both the bar and restaurant have always been pretty handy for escaping the shopping masses (who

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• New China rises from the ashes to reopen in Chinatown

  

  Well before Covid decimated trade in London's Chinatown, longstanding New China restaurant on Gerrard Street suffered its own catastrophe. A fire ripped through the well known restaurant back in September 2019, leaving most of the restaurant seriously damaged.

  But now, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the restasurant has finally reopened its doors. Over the last 20 months it's had a full refurb

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• Test Driving J Sheekey - a London institution celebrating its 125th birthday

  

  Truly a London institution, Sheekey's celebrates a landmark birthday this year. We revisted the Covent Garden restaurant to see how they're looking at 125 years young.

• Selfridges' alto rooftop restaurant gets a Dior makeover for summer

  

  If the alto rooftop restaurant at Selfridges wasn't already enough of a draw in this summer months, its latest design iteration should make it practically impossible to get a table there anytime soon.

  For the summer, it's been taken over by Dior and given a summery makeover by the fashion house. So the roof has been draped with Dior's toile de Jouy, with new summer seating, parasols and deckchairs.

  That's not all

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• The Perry Hill Pub gets a new lease of life in Catford

  

  Back before Christmas, there was a distinct frisson of excitement in South London when it was revealed that local pub the Perry Hill was being taken over by new company, Doghouse Pubs. The pub's been closed for quite a while, so this was great news for locals. Even more so when it turned out that Doghouse Pubs was run by Phil Sutton (previously at the Florence in Herne Hill) and his wife Oonagh McCormack.

  Now, in

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